


At the end of this road (I think I've found you)

by neverendingdream



Category: Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Charlie is a romantic mess, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, again like always, as always, astrid is a goddess, book spoilers (?), this is based on a rly specific exchange in crg im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 09:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15838869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverendingdream/pseuds/neverendingdream
Summary: When Charlie proposes to Astrid, they both run away from it all; the rumors, the gossip, the stress.(a world where Astrid is under pressure, but Charlie listens)





	At the end of this road (I think I've found you)

**Author's Note:**

> edit: i have reunited with my laptop so have updated tags and tried to correct any formatting errors/typos
> 
> Also
> 
> idk what this is actually but I was INSPIRED  
> this isn't my usual cra style of writing either I apologize in advance
> 
> (this is such a specific fic based on a single interaction in the books omg lmao I'm so sorry this is all once again @astridwu's fault ily loool)

  
Nine days before the wedding, the grand event of the century, Astrid breaks down outside Orchard Road. She shouts, screams, chucks a Frosty at Charlie's head. That much is still the same. Except in this world, Charlie doesn't shout back, doesn't argue for the sake of arguing until they're too caught up in winning the argument they forget why they're arguing in the first place, forget just whose feelings they're hurting. No, in this world, Charlie listens.

Astrid just needs time, her parents are putting the heat on her, and she can't take it, but _God_ if she doesn't want to marry him on the spot when he sits through all her shouting and pent up anger, catches her by the wrist before she can throw more than just a Frosty, and finally, pulls her into a warm embrace when she starts sobbing at the end of it all, disgusted at herself for snapping. He doesn't blame her. Instead, he tells her it'll be alright, no matter what, he'll wait for her until she's ready, even forever, if that's how long it'll take.

She smiles through her tears.

Neither of them will have to wait that long.

Before the day is up, they've come to a conclusion, a settlement they're both happy with: they'll run away, the both of them, taking only enough money to survive, and somehow, they'll make do, even if it's only on scraps and nothing more. Because if nothing else, they'll have each other, and in the end, that's what really matters.

"Where will we go?" Astrid asks over a new Frosty, tears finally dried into something more hardy, more determined, fueled by hope. Charlie shrugs.

"Anywhere is fine. I'd be content with some hut on a beach on the middle of nowhere, as long as it's with you." he hesitates. "Or, actually, how about Patagonia?"

She smiles.

"Why Patagonia?" she asks, already half-knowing the answer. He shrugs again, but there's a twinkle in his eye and she can't help but laugh a little as he takes her hand.

"Remember what we talked about when we were young? That one diner. You as the waitress, me as the bartender, and a cook. Inspired by Adam the chef's stint at the Brick. We would serve the best meals on the planet, give our customers the finest drinks, and they'd never know, it'd all be inside a dingy diner in the middle of nowhere. It was just a silly dream then, but we-- we could do it. Run away from this all. Together."

She would kiss him right there, because really, _only Charlie_ would remember something so ridiculous and spin it into this fairy-tale, this escape, but they've already caused quite a scene and she doesn't want to attract even _more_ attention. She settles for squeezing his hand tight. She thinks she's never loved him more than in this moment, his eyes alight with the fantasy, the romanticism of it all, their wildest childhood dream made a reality.

She wants to see it with him. She wants to see their dreams come true.

"You'd do it?" She asks, still half-disbelieving. "You'd run away with me."

"Anything for you, Astrid." He leans in to press a soft kiss to her lips, eyes gentle, overflowing with love, but before his mouth makes contact with hers she puts a hand over it, teasing.

"One question," she says, trying not to laugh at the offended expression on his face. "Can you even speak Spanish?"

"Of course, that's how I found our chef," he replies quickly. Before she can ask another question, he pouts, moving her hand aside.

"Can I have a kiss?"

She makes a tsk-ing noise, a voice in the back of her mind telling her they have an avid audience, but it doesn't matter, none of it does anymore. They're leaving all of this behind. The thought sings through her, crackling with energy, giving her the cheek to kiss him as an answer, before letting him capture her lips between his own in a long, sweet kiss.

  
They leave on the day of the wedding, in spite of, or rather because of the buzz it will cause. Astrid can already imagine the headline: 'Tech industry billionaire heir and fiancée disappear on day of wedding of the century. Mysterious elopement?'

It'll be the scandal of the year, of the decade, but surprisingly, Astrid finds she doesn't care. She leaves an explanatory note without a trace of apology for her parents, for all of her family to decipher and make drama out of. For Nick, always her favorite cousin, she leaves a private line of contact. He'll understand. She knows he will. (And when he meets Rachel, years down the line, he'll bring her to meet them.)

Charlie waits for her at Fort Canning, the place it all began, where they both set eyes on each other and something inside their hearts agreed that yes, _this was the one._ She brings only a suitcase of Ann Demeulemeester, wears a simple white dress, but watching her run towards him, flushed with excitement, he thinks she's more beautiful than he's ever seen her before. He holds a hand out to her, and he thinks he's crying, no, he _is_ , he is, for all the universes this couldn't happen in, for all the universes they end up unhappy in.

She takes his hand. There's tears in her eyes, too.

And before they leave, he proposes to her again, a final way out, if she wants it.

"Astrid," he says, kneeling. She's already nodding, a hand over her mouth, but he continues, his voice on the verge of breaking.

"You are my first love, my last love, the one and only for me, and always will be. Will you marry me?"

"Yes, _God_ yes," she says, and they don't need wedding vows, all they need is this security, the knowledge that they have chosen each other and always will.

They kiss, the final sealing of their own vow to each other, and disappear into the sunset without another word.

 

* * *

 

If you are lost in Patagonia, eyelids drooping with weariness, the sun low in the sky with nowhere for you to go other than the road before you, venture a few miles further. Perhaps then you'll see it, a neon sign flickering in the rapidly fading light. Perhaps not: you've traveled the wrong way, down the wrong road. Perhaps if you don't see it then, you'll see it when the moon is on rise, or in those brief, otherworldly moments before the daylight returns.

Either way, if you see it, when you see it, stop. Pull to the side of the road, into that small, empty parking lot. You won't regret it. When you turn off your car, before you can remove the key from the ignition, the sign's light will expand, revealing a small, dingy truck stop. The appearance is a lie-- it's a haven. If you decide to leave your car and enter (which every pore of your body is screaming for you to do), by morning your car will be sparkling clean, the gas filled, the tires replaced, the engine tuned. (One downside: you will be asleep inside, with no memory of the night before. For privacy and security reasons, of course. Instead, you will be filled with contentment, with the energy to continue onward, both on your journey and in life.)

If you could remember, however, you would be surprised at the memories, both strange and oddly mundane at the same time. You would remember a waitress so beautiful, so graceful, you'll think you're dreaming. Perhaps you are. You would remember wanting to bow down and worship her, this goddess, or perhaps proclaim your never-ending love, but she'll smile at you, and walk over to the bar to place your order, and the look she exchanges with the bartender will forestall any action of that kind. No, they are not of the same mettle as you, you are earthly, while they are made of stardust and dreams and moonlight, of this world, and yet not, beings that only exist in the space between reason and imagination, and only where daylight cannot touch them.

She serves you alcohol so fine it's like spun starlight, the dark of the night captured in a single glass, just for you, and food so wondrously strange and exquisite you'll never taste the likes of it ever again. (The chef is just out of eyesight, a blurred figure behind an ever-swinging door.)

The bartender jokes with you as you eat, his arm settling comfortably around the waitress' waist, and you think you have seen love as never seen before. (By morning, you will have forgotten all save for a lingering warmth, but for now, you savor it all, content.)

You talk with them until the night wanes, becoming more familiar than friends, more distant than strangers. They know you, and you grow to know them, they know your name and--

You pause.

"Is something wrong?" The bartender asks in perfectly accented Spanish.

"I--" you falter under the weight of their undivided attention. The waitress tilts her head for you to continue after an abnormally long pause.

"I never caught your names," you say at last, wondering if it's too rude, too presumptuous. She smiles. They share a secret look.

 

"Just call us Abelard and Héloise."

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I'm trying to write more Nick/Rachel too this just came out lmao
> 
>  
> 
> ~~btw if u were confused at where this all came from there's this one email exchange in China Rich Girlfriend where Astrid talks about the diner idea and Charlie later replies he was looking for a chef in Patagonia and I'm just aaaa bye dont mind me~~


End file.
